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Journalism, Culture and Society Courses

REQUIRED COURSES

Introduction to Journalism

A hands-on course emphasizing local reporting in New York City, news and feature writing, and writing news, opinion, and reviews for the Internet. Some of this will be under deadline pressure. Classes will emphasize examination and editing of articles for publication, including student publications. Students will learn to see the media from a Biblical, moral, and ethical perspective.

Pre-requisite: ENG110

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: JOU210

Entrepreneurial Journalism and The Future

The course considers the economics and technology behind the news media and teaches students to think as entrepreneurs within media organizations. Students will consider the future of journalism from a liberal arts standpoint, receive initial training in the key multimedia skills they will need to enter the field, and learn to think as entrepreneurs, coming up with a new media business idea as part of the coursework.

Pre-requisite: JOU210

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: JOU450

Narrative Nonfiction Workshop

In this course, students will learn to write longer-form pieces of narrative journalism such as a profile or a business narrative piece that might appear in magazines such as The New Yorker, New York, Esquire, GQ, Harper’s and Rolling Stone. Students will read book and magazine examples of the genre, paying close attention to New York’s role in birthing new types of magazine journalism in the 1960s and 1970s and today. Students will work on at least one main project during the semester and engage in workshop discussion of student work.

Pre-requisite: JOU210

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: JOU353

History of Journalism

This course provides an overview of the history of journalism in the United States initially focusing on the inventions, events and people that have shaped the discipline. The course will then shift its focus onto journalistic coverage of beliefs, values, and character.

Pre-requisite: JOU210

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: JOU251

Media Law & Ethics

The knowledge of communication law and ethics is essential for cultivating responsible citizenship in a democracy. This familiarity is especially relevant to aspiring journalists because the deadlines in news and other media organizations require quick and efficient decision making that often have lasting consequences. This course offers a breadth of law and ethics fundamentals to prepare future leaders to appreciate the privileges and challenges associated with the freedom of speech.

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: JOU355

News Media Internship

Media, Culture, and Society

This course will examine the social, economic, political and cultural forces that have shaped and been shaped by media, for good or ill. Media and information technologies will be mined for their influence on the way we live, govern, consume, and play. The course will also investigate new and emerging forms of media and how they are changing daily life and our ability to interact with both media and other people.

Pre-requisite: MED251LEC and junior standing
Equivalent: MED253

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: MED353

Principles of Cultural Interpretation

This course serves as an introduction to the MCA program by providing the interpretative framework for the study of media, culture and the arts. An examination of foundational definitions, questions and worldviews are central to this course as is an understanding of a Christian anthropology. There will also be an overview of the prevailing cultural theories currently in use and how they do or do not cohere with a Christian worldview. Students will be given the opportunity to critique culture during the course of the semester.

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: HUM210

The Post-Modern World

This course will analyze the tension between the postmodern and Christian worldviews. Beginning with a historical overview of the rise of the postmodern mindset, the course will study the growing influence of postmodernity as it has interacted with modernity, through the thinking of Nietzsche, Derrida, Foucault, and others. Throughout the course, questions surrounding foundationalism, metanarratives, and hermeneutics will be addressed. Epistemology will be a particular focus.

Pre-requisite: HUM311

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: HUM310

Persuasive Writing and Speaking

To prepare King’s students to speak and write well, this course offers instruction on how to write short persuasive essays such as those suitable for publication as op-ed articles in newspapers or commentary in political magazines. Students will gain further experience in the preparation and delivery of speeches, stressing organization, logical thinking and poise in the integrated use of the body and voice in effective expression. Students will enroll in program specific sessions to enhance their career opportunities.

Pre-requisite: ENG120

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: ENG412

Cultural Criticism

This course provides students with the knowledge and tools to write cogent, incisive cultural criticism. The course focuses on developing the vocabulary needed to analyze and engage with four major areas of cultural production (film, literature, music, and visual art); learning to write reviews suitable for publication in journals, magazines, and newspapers; and using cultural artifacts as a way to discuss broader trends. Students will visit museums and discuss books, movies, and music, and will also read a substantial amount of theories on criticism, both classic and contemporary examples.

Pre-requisite: ENG120 and HUM210, and senior standing

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: ENG445

ELECTIVE OFFERINGS

Sports and Entertainment Journalism

This course trains students in the skills of sports journalism including writing: game stories, a sports
column, a sports profile, a sports feature story. Some of these techniques can and will be applied to other
types of entertainment besides sports, including TV, film, live events, theatre, drama and competitions of
any kind.

Pre-requisite: JOU210LEC

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: JOU456

Business Journalism

This course trains students in the skills of the business journalist, including analyzing the strategies of
public companies, understanding basic financial analysis, reading SEC documents, writing business news
stories and quarterly earning stories, developing sources on a business beat, and interviewing business
executives, financial analysts, employees, investors, and other stakeholders.
Pre-requisite: BUS276LEC or JOU210LEC

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: BUS455

Documentary Filmmaking

The documentary film represents the first film experimentation in cinematic history. With the rise of the
Internet Age and heightened consumer access to technology, the documentary film is experiencing a rebirth
with the general public, independent film companies as well as with traditional Hollywood studios. The
course considers the history of the documentary film, its use as a tool for education and propaganda, and
application of the practical aspects of such filmmaking. As a final project, each student will produce a
documentary short to be screened for the college community at large.
Pre-requisite: FLM231LEC

COURSE CREDIT: 3COURSE CODE: MED271

Communication Design I

This course is a principle-based approach to the art of visual communication. Students are introduced to
the basic principles of graphic design and will use a combination of traditional and digital methods to
execute various projects. Projects will be pulled from five areas of communication design: packaging, visual
identity and branding, page layout, music graphics, and screen-based design. Traditional methods will
include watercolor, cut paper, marker, colored pencils; digital methods will include introductory skills in
Photoshop/Illustrator. The course is appropriate for students interested in working in any form of visual art
or communication design. Students who have taken ART241: The Visual Narrative I cannot take this
course for credit.